SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

Published 10:00 pm, Saturday, April 21, 2007

Seattle can do better in recycling than its recent record might suggest. This Earth Day, the city should bet on its better self.

There is big money at stake. The city has to decide whether to pursue a $160 million-plus plan for building a third garbage transfer station in Georgetown and modernizing its existing north and south facilities.

The city should expand recycling, composting and reuse efforts to avoid a third facility, which might trash Georgetown's revival. The City Council can take guidance on waste reduction from a consultant's report that recently looked at the options for dramatic increases in recycling.

As the report shows, any mix of approaches to waste and recycling will bring costs, whether or not a new facility is built. But the best philosophical choice is the so-called zero-waste policy, to which the city has, at least in theory, subscribed since 1998. As the consultant's report puts it, zero waste is a philosophy that "attempts to guide people to emulate natural cycles, where discarded materials become resources for others to use."

That has practical implications for individuals, society and the environment. Old kitchen cabinets, for instance, are no longer simply waste but an item that can be sold, thus creating jobs, reducing trash collection costs and minimizing the effects of city waste on rural land, water and air.

The city won't reach zero waste soon. The consultant's report says the city could move from recycling or composting about 44 percent of its garbage now to 72 percent by 2025. After early leadership on waste reduction, the city's recent record is less impressive. The consultant's report, which pointed out advantages to a third transfer facility, suggests the current goal of 60 percent by 2010 is slightly overoptimistic.

Even so, the city should aim high. It will need to accommodate composting more food with more frequent collection service. It will have to work more creatively with businesses and non-profit groups on the reuse of everyday products. It must tighten some disposal regulations.

More than anything, though, the challenge will be to find ways, financial and other, to give homeowners, apartment residents and companies the incentives to reduce waste. What is good for the Earth can and should be good for individuals.

On the Net: Councilman Richard Conlin talk about waste options at seattlepi.nwsource.com/podcast/opinionleaders